HemisFair fountains rigged to run on reclaimed water

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros are joined by children from Loma Park Elementary School on Friday at the refurbished HemisFair Park Fountains, which have been retrofitted to run on reclaimed water. San Antonio Water System and the city partnered on the project, which collects water from nearby downtown buildings and runs it through the fountains. The fountains will be operable even during drought restrictions.

This photo and caption ran in today’s Express-News, but the paper also received a press release from the city of San Antonio with some nifty facts about this project that I wanted to share:

According to the press release …

• The fountain will be able to run during drought restrictions because using reclaimed water means the amount of potable (drinkable) water used in the fountains will be reduced or maybe even eliminated.

• SAWS gave the city a $181,000 rebate to help with the cost of the retrofitting.

• By using reclaimed water, the fountains will conserve 37 million gallons of potable water a year. The release says that’s enough water for 400 families for a year.

• It would cost SAWS nearly $625,000 to purchase the rights to 37 million gallons of water from the Edwards Aquifer.